Smoke and Fireworks
by Tiara of Sapphires
Summary: He was secrecy and shadows. She was blasters and battle. Neither could win this war without the other. Rebelcaptain AU


**This is my Rebelcaptain Secret Santa 2018 project for watson-emma!**

 **Prompt: Jyn is a pathfinder and had never met Cassian (he's still a spy) till now (through Leia), they somehow become smitten with each other. Happy ending please:)**

 **…**

Her third mission as Captain and Jyn Erso hadn't gotten used to either the attention nor the pressure of being in such a place of command.

The first two missions had gone fine. She had thrown in all she had learned, tempering everything with her inherent cynicism that, at least up until that point, kept missions from going utterly sideways. It was a never-ending balancing act where their lives and the outcome of a war were on the line.

At least, during this briefing, Leia was taking the reins and most of the attention was on her. Not that it wasn't usually on her already, but, she definitely deserved it.

It was a relatively simple mission for all but a one thing: they had very little intelligence on conditions on the ground surrounding this Imperial installation. Things often changed with hours' notice. So, they would have to send a spy with the strike team hot on their heels.

That left little room for error, lest the Rebellion lose a spy and a good section of their trained strike team.

Leia leaned forward to brace her hands against the table.

"Our Pathfinder team will rendezvous with our spy at 1830 and advance to the mining facility at 1900."

The locations glowed on the map.

"And who is our spy?" Jyn asked, half rhetorically and half actually curious so she wouldn't accidentally shoot the spy while not knowing who they were.

Just at the edge of her vision, someone stepped forward, features now lit up by the glow of the holo-table.

A brow tense in thought, made all the more prominent in the light. He was handsome, almost unfairly handsome. He looked to her, something shifting on his face for a moment before steeling back to an air of pure professionalism. She liked to pretend he was just as struck by her, but she wouldn't bet any money on it. Just about anyone in the room turned to Leia when they wanted to look at someone striking.

"Captain Cassian Andor," he introduced himself.

A lovely voice to match. Figures. She couldn't place the accent. It was something distinctly Mid-Rim, but no system could come to mind.

"Codename: Fulcrum," Leia added, a smile twisting her mouth. "Ah, yes, you two haven't met."

She had received intelligence from him, the Rebel Alliance's best and most effective spy, but never actually met him or seen his face.

And now, well, the selfish part of her that still existed wanted to see more of his face. Selfish, and unrealistic. A spy was a spy and he probably wouldn't stick around too long on base for her to get too used to the sight.

"We're two busy people," Jyn quipped.

"Who will be transporting us there? Has to be discrete, eh?" her squadmate Baze spoke up, voice almost booming through the small space.

Cassian spoke up. "I have a clean ship for transport. K2, my droid, will be our pilot while we're planetside."

The meeting broke shortly after that and Jyn couldn't help but gravitate closer to her newly-found comrade.

"Leia was right, we haven't met," Jyn said as soon as she approached him.

Cassian looked her over for a moment and his mouth twitched.

"Yes. I am glad to meet you, Captain Jyn Erso. And my belated congratulations on the promotion. You have had much success, so it's well earned."

Jyn wanted to duck her head in embarrassment but kept herself tall.

"Thank you. And your work on Kafrene was invaluable to the Alliance. Made it almost too easy for us to use that information against the Empire."

Under the dim hallway lights, she couldn't tell if he was blushing.

"Want to eat something?" Jyn asked.

Cassian nodded, letting her lead the way to the mess hall.

There, they ate meager rations and talked about the systems they visited. Both of them didn't travel out of pleasure, always necessity, always in the context of war.

He had been to her homeworld—if she could count Coruscant as home—but she had never been to Fest. She knew it was a forested world, with picturesque winters.

Jyn found him very easy to talk to.

He was still unfairly handsome and the brighter lights in the mess only made that fact more obvious. Too good a jawline and build and just enough beard that he didn't look unkempt. Totally unfair.

How had she not met this man earlier?

…

The next day, the team geared up and shuffled into the cargo ship that idled in hangar.

Jyn slept fitfully the night before, mentally rehearsing what may happen during the mission. Studiously ignoring thoughts of her newly-introduced comrade. Her hand had stayed wrapped around the kyber crystal hanging on her neck the entire night.

Cassian waved at Jyn when she arrived.

K2-SO, Cassian's Imperial security droid, turned his head to look her over. She was familiar with the kind of droid, but knowing that this particular one was friendly was something to get used to.

The droid said something that Jyn couldn't understand. But, whatever he said, Cassian understood completely, because the man seemed to puff up a little in defensiveness, snapping back at K2 in the same language.

Jyn wanted to ask, but decided it wasn't her business. Or, at least, it wasn't her business yet.

She turned to her team, who sat in the cargo hold.

Baze hummed to himself, grunting in acknowledgement when Jyn sat across from him.

She had a good squad, five agents who were good at their jobs. They were with her for many missions, the bad and the good. They slogged through mud and the heat and the cold. They sat in the med bay together and mourned their losses together.

Jyn scrolled through her datapad, checking the map of the cityscape for the tenth time. There was going to be a lull the moment they landed. It would take a day for Cassian to case the place out, reach out to his contacts.

And then, the fight would begin.

Cassian disembarked without a word, disappearing into the city. Jyn and her squad sat in the ship until 24 hours passed and the encrypted plan from Cassian came through.

"Time to go," she said.

They left one at a time, making their way towards the first rendezvous point.

Jyn walked amongst the crowds, ducking into alleys when she needed to. She walked and walked.

The hand grabbing her arm startled her from her battle-narrow thoughts. The yank back towards the alley she had just stepped from brought her to panic mode.

The person—male, human male—pulled her in close and she pressed her blaster against his guts.

She was a moment away from blowing a hole into his abdomen when he hissed, "By the stars, do all you Pathfinders have death wishes?"

Cassian. This fucker just loved sneaking around, didn't he? And he was way too close to her, their bodies almost flush against each other. In another life, this would have been a very compromising position. This was war, this was hiding and surviving. This was nothing she could desire from him right now.

She pulled the blaster away and slipped it back into its holster.

"Of course. And you spies are so slick not even death could find you."

His mouth twitched, brow scrunching a bit in something akin to anger. Perhaps he had examples that would directly contradict her. Maybe he lost some friends, maybe a lover, to the cause of spying for the Rebellion.

She almost felt bad, if they weren't in the middle of Imperial territory.

"There's a patrol coming from the west. We need to wait," Cassian hissed. "Before you meet with the rest of the squad."

Sure enough, a couple of stormtroopers marched down the street, so confident in the chokehold on the region that they didn't really bother to check the alleyways. It took a few minutes before they were fully gone and Jyn felt comfortable enough to leave. She was antsy to leave, both of the mission and the man who was still too close to her.

"We need to go, Cassian. The rest of the squad's waiting for us to fill this mission so we can get out of this hellhole."

She started to pull away, but his hand tightened once again.

"What?" Jyn hissed, patience thinning quickly.

"Just, be careful, alright?"

She blinked at him. "Of course. I'm always careful."

He let her go, still watching her. Legitimate concern was a concept foreign to her. Dead parents and distant mentors would do that to someone.

"Be ready to pick us up, yeah?"

He nodded shortly, before she turned and ducked into the milling people in the street.

The mission went without a hitch. Cassian's resources and ability to easily sneak around proved valuable in making sure Jyn and her team didn't get killed. Not to knock what Jyn and her team accomplished. The Pathfinders were the Alliance's best for a reason.

"Oh look, you aren't dead," K2 droned.

"Not for a lack of trying," Jyn replied cheerfully.

Cassian huffed under his breath.

The flight back to base was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. The team was tired from their mission, so they sat in the cargo hold, dozing or sleeping.

Jyn sat in the cockpit with K2 and Cassian, listening to them banter until the base at Thila.

"Well done, team," Leia said with a grin in the debrief.

Cassian watched her from across the table, his eyes straying to her at every moment he could spare.

They met at that same hallway.

"Not bad, Captain," Jyn said as a greeting.

Cassian smiled in return, "Not so bad yourself, Captain."

He tilted his head toward the mess hall.

"Want to get something to eat, before something else needs our attention?"

She nodded.

They bypassed the mess hall entirely and found themselves in the long hallway of officers' quarters.

Her hand reached out almost instinctively, gripping the edge of his sleeve. An answer to a question he hadn't asked yet. He led her to a door where the nametag over the lock spelled out his name.

He reached with his free hand and typed the code into the keypad and the light flashed green. The door opened.

They crashed together the moment the door closed behind them, a clash of lips and teeth. Raw attraction.

In another life, this would've been too fast for her and she would pull away. She would have wanted to savor this as long as possible. She knew that. But the mission they just went on…that went well. There was the chance the next one wouldn't end so well. They could be separated again, for months or years or forever.

His calloused hands skimmed under her shirt, making her shiver. The base was carved into a mountain, making the air consistently cold. He was warm, a pleasant contrast.

"Cassian," she gasped as his beard rasped against the side of her neck, lips and teeth following. Chills shivered down her spine.

He backed her up into the bed, clothes being shed one by one. His excitement pressed hard against her belly.

"I want you," he whispered.

She nodded, letting her hands wander down. The silvery rises and dips of scars cut into his chest and her hands found them, skimming over them. His hands found the same on her, scars upon scars.

"I want you too."

It felt good to be wanted.

Cassian covered throat with kisses, skimming down to her core. She gasped into the cold air, skin prickling, as his hands and his mouth played over her. It had been a long time and he pushed her over the edge with an almost embarrassing speed.

A blessing. This man was a blessing.

He crawled up her body again, more kisses. Jyn leaned up, hooking an arm around him, a simple wrestling move she learned over the years of training, so he was flat on his back, Jyn straddling his hips.

Cassian blinked, move slightly agape at the suddenness of it. Jyn kissed him, on the lips, around the edges of his beard.

"Stars above, look at you. You're so fucking handsome. How did it take me so long to meet you?" she whispered, the words spilling out without a filter between her brain and her mouth.

Cassian blushed, grinding his hips against hers, glassy-eyed.

Perfect. He was perfect.

Jyn grinned, leaning down to kiss him. Her hands skimmed down his wiry body, feeling the muscles and the bones.

"So good," she whispered in wonderment. "I want to ride you."

Cassian puffed a laugh, still shivering under her.

"Jyn, please."

Another nip at his lip, a bruise suckled into his throat, before she raised herself on her knees, reaching behind to take him in hand. His eyelashes fluttered a bit at the contact.

She slid down almost painfully slow, relishing each inch.

"Jyn," he gasped.

She rode him like they would both die if she didn't. She kissed him, tongues twining, gasping into each other.

She whispered nonsense to him and he whispered right back. He murmured things in his native tongue, broken syllables.

She liked to think he was calling her beautiful.

They came, one after another, Cassian grinding up into her in his orgasm, his hand rubbing against her to bring her over the edge again.

She peppered his mouth again with kisses before flopping down next to her. Cassian reached for a blanket and threw it over them.

…

It continued like this.

When the war brought them together, they fell into each other. They shared meals, shared beds, kissed wounds and scars, soothed nightmares.

And when they were apart, they couldn't help but pine and reach for what contact they could find.

…

…

Cassian burst through the med-bay doors, causing Jyn to start.

The war was ending, the Battle of Endor was finished. She had been lounging in bed, nursing a blaster wound on her shoulder.

She had barely made it off that cursed moon. But none of that mattered when Cassian stared at her, wide-eyed, like she was going to disappear at any moment. He crossed the room to stand by where she sat on the bed's edge.

"You're okay," Cassian whispered.

She blinked at Cassian.

"Of course, I'm okay."

"I heard about Endor. I thought you didn't make it out."

Cassian stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, careful to not jostle her injuries. Jyn sagged into it, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"I almost didn't. Not gonna lie," Jyn said.

She was sure she was going to die in that forest. Skywalker had disappeared and the Empire somehow knew they were there. Getting manhandled by stormtroopers and being ready to die. And then the ewoks came and suddenly it was a true fight for their lives.

And once the battle was over, she was shuffled to the medbay, where she slept for the day, getting bacta patches slapped on her.

She looked for Cassian, the intel kept from her. He was on Coruscant, keeping an eye on the Imperial government, ready to aid the fallout once the Second Death Star was destroyed.

And now, now he was here, safe in her arms.

"Take me to bed," she murmured.

One of the doctors called after them as Cassian led her out of the medbay. They ignored him.

They made a beeline for the bed, Cassian lowering her to the bed, undressing her. His fingers stroked softly around the bacta patch. His mouth replaced her fingers, peppering with very gentle kisses.

She was one big bruise, all things considered, but her heart was in her throat.

"What do you want to do?" Cassian whispered.

She looked at him, kissing the center of his chest.

"Bed. Sleep."

Cassian kissed the crown of her head and she could feel him smiling into her hair.

"Okay, Jyn."

They slept without fear for the first time in a long while.

 **…**

 **Cassian has a praise kink. FIGHT ME ABOUT IT.**

 **I hope you enjoyed it :D**

 **All feedback is appreciated!**

 **Cheers!**

 **~Tiara of Sapphires**


End file.
